Specific recommendation on bike - Touring and Track

[RemaL]

Sorry another what bike.

After my tour in the US last month got me thinking for my second bike, I was thinking along the lines of MT09 naked. A bit of touring and odd trackday.

But I enjoyed the comfiness of the Street Glide and surprising wind protection it gave me.

Budget of 8k'ish

One issues I have with the Tracer and Tiger 800 that may be ideal is the height. While i'm tall I have had major ops and issues with my Hips and thus cannot get my leg over tall bikes.

So was thinking Hayabusa or ZZR1400/GTR1400. The K1600 GT looks nice but maybe not in my budget and maybe too touring that sports touring
Any others to look at and try while at the NEC bike show next week. So I can get a idea of a bike that is comfy

Cheers

[RemaL]

black-k1 said:

Having just done the search for my K1300S replacement, I would suggest that, if you’re looking at a new bike, the top two contenders are the KTM SD 1290 GT and the Kawasaki H2 SX.

Not looking at new as per my budget of 8k'ish

[RemaL]

dibblecorse said:

I have no experience of the Busa but there was a guy on our recent Parcmotor trip running one and he has toured all over on it also, he loved it and felt for the 2 or 3 trackdays a year he does, its ok for him.

Sounds positive and i've always like the Busa

[RemaL]

dern said:

I know it's traditional to recommend your own bike and also I've only had this bike a few weeks and I've only done about 800 miles on it and I haven't taken it on track yet but... you might want to take a look at a KTM 1190. It's definitely got the touring bit covered as you'd expect but the bit that I wanted and it's exceeded my expectations on is how much fun it it. It's got about 150bhp and it's great fun and doesn't feel at all big. Mine is a 2014 with 20k on it from a main dealer and it cost me £7500.

Not me as I've not been on track with it but it gives you an idea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmuVme1bmfA

One specific recommendation I posted on my first post was not a Tall touring bike. Due to issues with hips. Is the KTM1190 a short bike? I've not sat on one before

[RemaL]

Andybow said:

Naked mate, track and tour no probs, they are all good , mt10 is a good bet as it’s comfy and there’s loads of options for luggage, £8k will get you a immaculate one as well, out of all the nakeds it was probably the best of the bunch of ours for touring.
Wasn’t as good on track as tuono etc but still great fun

Edited by Andybow on Monday 12th November 18:13

Prob with that is as per my first post I enjoyed the wind protection and why i'm not looking at a naked.

[RemaL]

Andybow said:

RemaL said:

Prob with that is as per my first post I enjoyed the wind protection and why i'm not looking at a naked.

That’s why I mean by bolt on stuff though, the touring screen and hand guards make a huge difference

Ahh I got you know

[RemaL]

spareparts said:

Andybow said:

spareparts said:

^ agreed

The K13s is a lovely bike to own with a low standover height and good weather protection. It is a great bike for touring - especially if you enjoy motorways and such like. When you push it in the twisties, however, it’s geometry, weight, and chassis dynamics shout stability, and you need to muscle it to hustle. On hindsight after my K13S, I think the K13GT is more appealing as a proper tourer if you want the same drivetrain. But they are still heavy machines that feel their weight.
After the H2, I think the K13 engine will feel like it’s trying too hard... you could probably set the H2 up for touring duties and get more compared to the K13.

For what you are looking for, I think the R1200RS is a great option. ChipChap has toured on his with me, and it is a great bike with low standover height, great dynamics in the twisties, and the R1200 boxer is as fast as you want it for road riding. You can find them in budget.

Good shout Ade, great bike the RS, strange why there isn’t more about

Simple: the RS stands in the very big shadow of the GS. The RS has a final drive ratio that is about 15% longer which is better for higher speeds just as the GS begins running out of puff because of the barn door aerodynamics. The RS is relatively compact, sleek, and cuts well through the wind. It’s traditional front end lacks the advantages of Telelever over broken ground, but it gives back with feel. I still reckon the RS is one of the quickest (not fastest) point-to-point bikes on British roads. Great bike that is good value too. PB has a good article on it this month.

Good shout and will look into the RS a little more as well and other suggestions

[RemaL]

All making for some interesting reading chaps.
I'm not looking for lots of power as I don't need it for this bike. Yes using on Track but i'm not racing just having fun.
And must say i'm enjoying the touring side more than track as time goes on

[RemaL]

cracking reply and many thanks for taking the time to provide me with your views

[RemaL]

you lot are making it difficult for me now. To many ideas going around my head and the idea of a naked first made me thought no for touring but again something I will look into

I'm going to look at the NEC show, have a sit see what I like then see what is in my budget and go from there.

But again many thanks for the feedback and as Ade said with my H2 i'm not looking for another bike just something else to fit my ideal of a second bike

Maybe less weight than the Busa and ZZR1400/GT. I liked the less wind blast from the Street Glide and why I was not thinking of a naked as a good sports tourer

And Yes I had a 08 Speed triple

[RemaL]

black-k1 said:

RemaL said:

you lot are making it difficult for me now. To many ideas going around my head and the idea of a naked first made me thought no for touring but again something I will look into

I'm going to look at the NEC show, have a sit see what I like then see what is in my budget and go from there.

But again many thanks for the feedback and as Ade said with my H2 i'm not looking for another bike just something else to fit my ideal of a second bike

Maybe less weight than the Busa and ZZR1400/GT. I liked the less wind blast from the Street Glide and why I was not thinking of a naked as a good sports tourer

And Yes I had a 08 Speed triple

We don't want to make it easy. It's far more fun when it's difficult!

I hope you enjoy trying all the options.

Why I like to get feedback and suggestions from you lot. To allow me to think outside the box and look into other bikes I may have not given a thought to.

I don't ever rush into buying something to make sure it suits me and also something I will enjoy for years,

in 13 years of riding i've only owned 4 bikes. Ridden many more. 600 Fazer, Speed Triple, Blade and H2.

And to tell you the truth I have been enjoying touring more than trackdays.

I get a lot of feedback from a chap called Fazer Phil. Many people may know him and i've know hi for years before he became the President of the Uk Iron Butt rallys. And knowing he will tour for a long weekend and do 2-5k in the 3-5 days with little more than a top box I know I don't need lots of room for luggage.
Doing the TT this year and my US HD Tour (which I'm still buzzing about) I want a second bike I can use most of the year and not worry about unlike the H2 which is never hardly out of my sight.

[RemaL]

Chipchap said:

If you can "Tour" with a back pack then that opens up a whole raft of options. I did Nürburgring and back on my Tuono V4R and loved it but that was only 3 or 4 days so a back pack was fine. I also did 14 days/3000 miles on my 1050 Speed Triple with a set of SW Motech soft panniers and a seat top bag.

Done 8 days/2200 miles on my Red/Silver MV to The Pyrenees and 12 days/1900 miles on my White/Black MV to Portugal both with Kriega 30 on..

So any bike can be toured on by any person. A good compromise may just be a 1290GT KTM as if you junk the bags you certainly could have fun on track days or when out touring if you leave the luggage behind.

I think the first thing to do is set a budget. Then see what fits in the budget. Then weight it towards what you want from the bike the most.

So say £8000--Many bikes--70% Track day and scratching 30% touring. Then an Aprillia V4R APRC ABS fits that bill nicely, as does a BMW S1000R or Yamaha MT10 etc

I have a good set of soft Panniers that will fit 99% of bikes but not the H2 as it's single seat only. But also happy taking little and wearing the same gear

so i'm easy with that

[RemaL]

Well after looking and sitting ay many bikes at the NEC yesterday I was surprised what bike I ended thinking I want to look into more and test ride.
IE a bike I felt comfy on at a good price that I would spend my money on.

MT-09 Tracer. light, comfy and surprisingly not difficult to get my leg over. I prefer it to the MT-09 which was a shock
Also looked at the ZZR1400, RS1250, Superduke GT and many more

[RemaL]

cheers for the feedback

[RemaL]

black-k1 said:

As has been suggested, make sure you have a good long test ride on any/all possibilities. A good sports touring bike is one you can do a 500+ mile/12 hour day on then get up the next morning and want to ride all the mountain passes on. It's not just something you like sitting on at a show/in the showroom.

I want something comfy and why I have been looking at what I have. my current bike is not bad and done 800 miles in a week going to the TT but I want something a little less extreme as a second bike. I don't need anything to powerful, just something I can enjoy touring and the odd TD.

I did back a few years ago 1600 miles in a week on my Blade and on the last day could only manage 100 miles before needing to get off and stretch my legs.

So will be in the new year reporting back after a few test rides.
if money was no object then the first bike I would test ride would be the new BMW RS

[RemaL]

black-k1 said:

RemaL said:

I want something comfy and why I have been looking at what I have. my current bike is not bad and done 800 miles in a week going to the TT but I want something a little less extreme as a second bike. I don't need anything to powerful, just something I can enjoy touring and the odd TD.

I did back a few years ago 1600 miles in a week on my Blade and on the last day could only manage 100 miles before needing to get off and stretch my legs.

So will be in the new year reporting back after a few test rides.

As has been said on a couple of the Old Gits trips, “touring on a ‘Blade is like bringing a knife to a gun-fight”. I can understand your discomfort after a week and 1600 miles. Unless you share a lot of DNA with Nick Saunders then you’ll experience discomfort on many different bikes doing any form of worthwhile touring, and it tends to get worse as you get older.

I’d suggest thinking carefully about what you mean by touring. 800 miles is not a tour, it’s a couple of days out! When we’re on the Old Gits trips then a trip will involve 600 to 800 miles to get there, 5 days of 150 to 300 miles (non motorway) per day “exploring” then 600 to 800 miles to get home. That’s 2000 to 3000 miles over 9 days.

It’s often not the miles that make a bike uncomfortable, but the time in the saddle. Again, the Old Gits tend to be looking at an average day being 7 to 8 hours, with most of that riding. A long day is 12+ hours and they’re not uncommon on the there and back trips.

The final thing to remember is that, when touring, there will be times when the weather is crap, the traffic is crap but you still have to cover 400 miles to get to the ferry/hotel/whatever and all with a weeks’ worth of luggage, so the bike needs to be comfortable in those conditions.

Thanks again for the feedback all.
Re the 800 miles thats 2 days for me also. I will only go out for less than a 100+ ride to take the bike for a service. I enjoy adding the miles and visiting new places.
Just with my US trip last month my views on what is comfy has changed. We did 400 miles on 1 day and I got off the bike and could have done another 400 miles. But the Street Glide while comfy and much less wind buffeting was soooo heavy.

Why with suggestions going for something lighter that a big touring bike has made me think of the Tracer etc...

[RemaL]

CaptainSlow said:

Avoid the Tracer. Get an MT10 with screen and some panniers.

(just not the one I'm getting)

I'm not looking for something with Panniers just comfy and less wind buffeting. As long as it has a pillion seat which mine does not that's great as I have soft throw over panniers if needed

[RemaL]

3DP said:

So in summary, you want a 2018 KTM MT10 RS Tracer GS Busa GT, for under £8k.

Narrowing it down aint I lol

[RemaL]

Chipchap said:

After the NEC I developed a bit of an urge for a 2019 KTM 1290 GT which now has the Super Duke 1290 R engine fitted. So around 175 BHP and 104 Lb ft at the crank. Roughly that translates to 157 bhp and 90 lb ft at the tyre.

I then went and dug out the dyno run from my current 2nd bike 2016 Euro 3 BMW R1200RS with std exhaust but a remap a Hilltop as these things are poor from the crate as the fuelling is ultra lean. Turns out that whilst I am around 40 bhp short on the KTM I am only about 5 or 6lb ft short on torque and that's only if I use 8000 rpm and not my current 5500 rpm for upshifts

So if ridden in the same manner I wont be measurably faster on the KTM. To be faster will require me to change my riding style to use more revs and be less lazy in my approach. I will ride one in February when the demo 2019 bikes come and then report back.

Here is the dyno from my old crate.

And why you know you have more power than you need on the other bike why I would be happy with 100BHP on a sports tourer.
at the wheels


For me taking bike on track is a laugh and fun. getting corners right, enjoying my day with mates. Not about lap times or being faster than anyone else. I don't care about that just having fun.
I want my next bike to be comfy for long trips. light would be good and a good screen. My current bike has a double bubble and is good but after my US tour on a HD it was so much easier to tour every day and just get up the next day and feel great.

But I have plenty of bikes i'm going to look at over the next few months and ideally get something after christmas when we may have lots of deals on as everyone has spent their money at christmas

[RemaL]

tjlazer said:

Just out of curiosity as someone who has looked around the market at many of these bikes but is a fair bit trimmer and younger, why is no one talking about the multistrada? They look great, sound awesome and beat crusing on some grandpa wagon. Is it just the height or something else? My street triple will probably never leave me but the Ducati has me very interested and well in 8k budget reach.

Mainly as having sat on them and their height, and issues with my hips are the main reason for not looking